GHC SCHOOL INCOME PROJECTS.

For schools which support themselves like The GHC school in sewage/Matopeni slum, engaging in income generating activities is the only way towards SUSTAINABILITY. YOUR support is needed to achieve this!

The GHC school has continued to grow against all the challenges that have threatened its existence.It has continued to be a CENTRE of hope for many Bright-needy and worthy students.With very meager resources, the centre has made tremendous progress towards self sufficiency.
The green house project is seen as one of the milestone steps towards this. The Management has set up several strategies to see the school attain a sustainable status. We are currently seeking funding to engage in a medium scale FISH production.
The fact that GHC is a small Community Based organization That supports school going children from poor families has not not negated its impact in achieving its GOALS and Objectives.
As we grow we have continued to face lots of CHALLENGES and EXPERIENCE on countering /solving them. Getting funds for our projects is one major challenge, Volunteers is another one since we cannot be able to pay staff.But as we move on we are slowly moving from nothing to something.OUR tomatoes project to generate income has been partly successful. The tomatoes in the open field were greatly damaged by the heavy .This has made lots of loses and hence reduction in gains from the green house. The impact of the heavy rains was minimal on the green house. We hope the the losses made can be balanced with the gains from the green house.WE hope that engaging in many different income generating activities will reduce risks on losses and enhance our sustainability.
We are looking forward to our friends, partners, and wekll wishers to link us, support us and inspire us towards making our community a prosperous community and a better olace to live, work, invest and enjoy.
Thank you.
Josephat Nyagwaya,
Project Manager @ The GHC- School Nairobi.

The solution to world hunger is teaching the farmers to farm profitably. "There's this belief that in order to stop poverty, we have to find ways to get people to stop being farmers. What we need to do is find ways to stop them from being poor farmers." Amy Smith, MIT The following is the solution and there is unlimited, documented proof. More than 850 million go hungry every day [50% are subsistence farmers]. They need knowledge about farming. “The hungriest people grow food for a living: Global hunger and poverty are largely a rural phenomenon. 70% of the developing world’s extremely poor people are in rural communities and work in agriculture. They barely produce enough food to survive, which is why they’re referred to as subsistence farmers.” compatibletechnology.org

These are based on the internet, experiences teaching agriculture in many countries, research data, farmer experiences in those countries and a demonstration garden. They are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just and economically viable.
Poor, unhealthy soil is the reason for low yields. Here is the solution. Organic No-Till is not a fixed set of rules but a method that gardeners/farmers adapt to their local conditions. No one plows the jungle and it produces; no one plows the forest and it produces. This applies to vegetables, grains, fruits, etc.
Organic, no-till farming, in permanent beds, with permanent paths, using only a machete/cutlass, doubles or triples yields compared to traditional farming, reduces labor 50% to 75%, reduces inputs-expenses to nearly 0 [buy only seed for new crops, green manure/cover crops], increases fertility, stops soil erosion [no rain water runoff], eliminates most weed, disease and insect problems and greatly increases profits if marketing. Use DIY drip or DIY bucket drip irrigation [made by farmer] to produce during the dry season and in areas of low rainfall.
SRI – system of rice intensification: 50%-100% increased yield, up to 90% reduction in required seed, up to 50% savings in water. panna.org/blog/bumper-crops-india-no-ge-required
SRI principles and practices have been adapted for rain-fed rice.
SCI – system of crop intensification: wheat, sugarcane, millet, maize and teff with yield increases.

With no-till, organic matter [green manure/cover crops or weeds or crop residue] generates the following results:
 The mulch gradually rots into the soil providing a constant supply of nutrients while eliminating composting.
 Moisture retention due to the mulch layer means reduced need for watering; saving both resources and labor.
 Mulch prevents weeds from growing, reducing another laborious chore.
 Because of greater nutrients, plants can be positioned twice as densely as normally recommended.
 The combination of denser spacing and healthy soil means a fourfold increase in yield. Josef Graf

These practices stopped the migration of farm families to the cities because it is profitable. [Honduras]. There are 262,000,000 acres in no-till and 85,000,000 acres organic, worldwide.

Fukaoka Farm, Japan, was been organic, no-till [rice, small grains, vegetables] for 70 years. At the time of my visits the following were organic, no-till: an Indian farmer [vegetables] for 5 years, a Malawi farmer [vegetables] on permanent beds for 25 years [model farm] and a Honduras farmer [vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the contour (73° slope] for 8 years. Ruth Stout [USA] had a garden for 30 years and 7,000 people visited her garden. I have been on farms where the farmer, alone, farms 10 acres [4 hectares], using only a machete/cutlass.
No technique yet devised by man has been anywhere near as effective at halting soil erosion and making food production truly sustainable as 0-tillage (Baker)

"Plowing the land over and over damages the soil almost as much as chemical weed killers do. It kills off nitrogen-fixing bacteria." Onmivore's Dilemma
“No one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing. It can be said with truth that the use of the plow has actually destroyed the productiveness of our soils.” Edward Faulkner
Plow to kill the weeds; that brings to the surface more seeds to sprout; more weeds to plow up.

Dear Ken, Thank you for all the info. I am applying it in my own vegetable patch. It is working. Got half a pocket of potatoes off a square metre. So would imagine about 10 pounds per square yard. This off previously dead low, carbon soil. Sure next crop will be better. Got yams coming up on same spot already. Want to plant herbs and spices. Your advise is so simple. People do not believe me when I tell them. I am so excited about growing things now. This coming from a commercial plum farmer. Jeremy Karsen, South Africa

We have already started several gardens in Jinkfuin community and the people working on them have benefitted from the DVDS we received from Ken. We watched the DVDs and got so many lessons and there women and men already running gardens, good ones! Lia, Kimilili

I confirm Ken's advice. I've been using mulch and no-till since the late sixties. It works. It really works. I now manage a 5,000 ft² community garden in its fifth season. It started on hard clay with turf grass using cardboard and mulch. Leaves are added to the beds every fall and it has never been tilled. It's a beautiful, fruitful garden. I have friends who have sand and advised them to do the same. They've been very successful as well. It will work anywhere. Judith Hainaut

Uganda: We have been working on improving farming techniques for almost a year. Unfortunately, the farmers are planting small plots of land that only feed their family. There is no other choice but to try new techniques to improve the output of their plot. Ken Hargesheimer suggested the "no till" farming techniques as well as the "drip system". Both have proven effective at increasing production by at least 5 fold. The time is now for Kyomya to become a model agricultural village. [nabuur.com]

Ken has instructed us that by introducing cover crops. We will improve the organic nature of the soil. This involves less work than the previous method and has resulted in double the yield from crops where this method has been implemented.’ Busukuma, nabuur.com

Mini-Livestock Farming

Farmers must produce high quality feed/forages for the livestock for high production. Use the native breeds with improved males.

Thanks a lot for your comments.
How may you help.
Actually we had a board meeting and planned a fundraising with
The Global giving in December this year.
Hope you will participate.
Thank you and welcome.
Regards,
Josephat
Projects Manager @ The GHC